Pages

Sunday, October 24, 2010

I had some fun with these. I love fonts so I thought I'd add a little whimsy and put a fun poem along with my peas drawing. The peas still have to be painted but all in all I'm happy with the outcome. The right side page is a fun zentangle. After drawing the main upper part I thought it looked like an "egg dispenser" so hey, why not label it that?? I'm debating adding color to the whole thing, I probably will just ti give it some definition.

I'll talk to you all soon with more pages and also the Tuesday mosaic. I think I have like ten more to complete. Many of them, I think, will be labor intensive. We'll see how it goes.

Are you all getting ready for Halloween? What are you gonna be? I'd love to hear about it in my comments!! Later y'all. :o)

Friday, October 22, 2010

I just love doing botanical drawings! In fact, I'm looking through Amazon at how to books so I can learn what's required. The details are so much fun to create. This double page will be right after the doorknob page. I apologize that it's a little blurry, I used my mac camera. :o)

This next page speaks for itself. I decided to see if I could come up with a cogent picture using a light standard and a bench. I'm thrilled with how it came out. Doing a black & white was also a lot of fun. I used my inking pen on it's side to scrape small amounts of ink over and over until I got the depth of shading I wanted.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

My new Etsy store is now open for business. I happily welcome you to come and check it out. My store is located under the same name as my blog at www.justaddwatersilly.etsy.com. My new blogger mini Etsy in the sidebar will also preview my paintings for sale on a rotating basis. Ok, you can now all go about your business again. :o)

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

I'm working diligently on my sketchbook, determined to finish it early and move on to other things. I still have a significant amount of work to complete but I do finally feel like I can see the finish line of this huge project. Surprisingly, I have learned so much about myself and my art by just doing all this work. For instance, I had no idea I'd enjoy the detail work so much. I've decided, on that insight, that I'm going to add my own take on botanical prints to my repertoire of art I create. Maybe the joy of the intricacy and the simplicity of line drawing, these two combined, is what stirs my imagination.

Onto the newest additions to the pages of my soon-to-be-completed sketchbook! This first page is a hint page for the tulips I'll be painting. The second page is the hint to the final double layout page in the book.

My Etsy shop will be opening in the next 24 hours so please look for it soon at www.justaddwatersilly.etsy.com. There will be a widget in my sidebar showing some of the paintings I'll be selling. I'll be back in the next day or two with more pages!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

I have been thoroughly enjoying the process of creating my sketchbook. In fact, I've decided to make another one when this on is completed. I've never been a diary keeper but this project has really shown me a way of allowing yourself to just be creative for no purpose. No one has to see my next sketchbook and I can try stuff that is just in my mind.

I've also learned how much I'm in love with sketching. I always thought painting would be my one love but I find that putting pencil to paper has a simplicity I can find no where else. That wonderful feeling of simplicity is what inspired this mosaic. Don't you just love that little bird??

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Because of the way I'm laying out my sketchbook, with the hint on the previous page as a full double page layout, it leaves the left hand single page just after a double layout with nothing on it. I've decided to fill them with random fun stuff. Sometimes they'll be zentangles, like this next one and other times I'll do a small drawing or painting then use words around the art describing it. I'll have one of those to show soon. Here's my first zentangle.

After this page, the next one, on the right hand side, is the hint page for the double page layout. This is the hint page for the daisies layout that I showed you last week.

And finally, here's the close up from the writing desk that I promised a couple days ago. I just love how this parchment turned out! I never thought in a million years that the whole thing would look this fantastic. I love it, especially since I wasn't working from any kind of photograph, this was totally off the top of my head.

That's all for now, I'll be back soon with more pages. I'm really trying to get this finished. Although I'm so completely enjoying it, I just want to have it completed so I can send it in and be sure it will be included in the collection.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

When one joins the Sketchbook Project one must pick a theme. I chose "It Must Be..." and I've interpreted that to mean I will give some hints on the previous page about the next art piece. Don't get me wrong, not every drawing or page will have a hint. I think that would be excessive (and also difficult). Here's the cover.

When the reader opens the cover, the next page is a full double layout with what's supposed to be "my writing desk" that has a parchment, key and magnifying glass on the writing surface. As an incentive to come back in a few days, the next page is a close up of the desktop. :o) Here's the double layout.

The cork board on the left "wall" of the room is supposed to be where they'll put the library card envelope with all the artist info etc. Hopefully they'll be able to figure that out!!

Well, talk to you all in a couple of days. I just made coffee, I think I'll wedge myself into the cup!! It's getting ccccccoooolllldddd here. :o)

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

If you'd like to see more mosaics, go to Artmind and peruse the list. Mitsy hosts a link party every Tuesday. I'll be back tomorrow with new pages from my Sketchbook Project sketchbook. It's really starting to come together as a concept. I'm thrilled.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

My sketchbook is going "swimmingly well", as they say. I'd have to say that this double page is my favorite so far. I used pen & ink and Copic markers to give dimension to the subject. Here we go...

Kinda cool, huh? I've finally figured out a way to do the centers of daisies that look half way decent. I especially love the daisy on the right, the way I actually captured how it's leaning toward the sun. I'm thinking that I'll use the Doris Day movie as the hint. Maybe I'll do something like put the title in bold, minus the daisies part then mention David Niven and Doris Day and 1960. Does anyone have any other daisy suggestions? OOh, maybe I'll use falling petals with "he loves me" and "he loves me not" written on them.

I'm also doing a tulip double page. I think I'll do the background black and the tulip in a bright pink or a red. Here's the sketch.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Hiya. Me again. I posted this double page before it was finished, just to give a preview. I'm thrilled about how it came out. After the other side of the paper is decorated, the window will be cut open using an exacto knife. So the reader will be able to open the shutters like you would be able to in real life, and see through to the next page. I haven't decided yet what it will open up to show, lol.

Another of the double page layouts I'm working on is lemons. I haven't come up with a sufficiently good hint yet though. I thought of "if you have lemons, make lemonade" but that seems lame. Any suggestions?

Anyway... I'll post another quick update very soon so keep your eyes peeled for new art! Oh, and for those waiting to see the living room transformation and my bedroom/art studio spruce up, I heard from Laz-y-Boy today and they think they'll be delivering sometime next week! Yippee!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

I've been getting a lot of my sketchbook done. It's going faster than I thought it would so I'm going to break my progress into several small posts across this week. So, without further ado...

The first two pages, when you open the cover will be the introduction to my sketchbook. When I send the sketchbook in they will attach an envelope, like a library book has, that holds info about the artist. That will be on the inside cover, the next page I'm going to explain to the reader that each page before a full layout will hold a clue to that layout's subject. When the reader then turns the page there'll be an old skeleton key on a desk with a crumpled piece of paper holding a clue to the next page. Then there'll be this <--- door, complete with old doorknob, that I ask the reader to "go through".

When the reader opens the door the full layout is revealed. The full layouts are much more labor intensive than the clues pages, in which I want to incorporate lettering and zentangles into for interest. I've decided to add my own cover so the number of pages will be up to 40 instead of the 32 I'd started with.

This next layout I will be drawing and painting a hand holding a tiny hummingbird. So, as a clue I did this...

On the left hand side half page before the hummer I'll probably do a zentangle and incorporate wings or birds, trying for a subtle suggestion of a hummingbird. We'll see how it works out. I think the left hand half pages are going to be the hardest to fill since everything else will be relating back to the full layouts.

My answer? LOVE. Love makes me all gooey inside when I think of it, gives me goosebumps when I witness it and touches my senses when I experience it. I love romantic movies, books and gestures. Yep, it really is all about the L♥VE for me. :o)

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Ya, probably not. But that's what I've been up to lately. I want to make sure I'm not pressed for time to get this thing done and sent in by the new year. So, I'm concentrating on fleshing out what I'm trying to "say". You see, each sketchbook comes with a theme. Mine is "It Must Be...", so I've decided that the page before a larger painting will contain clues within the drawing.

My sketchbook will be made up of 8 full pages (double the width of the closed sketchbook) of 140 lb watercolor paper. I'm going to fold each of these full pages down the middle to make 8 "signatures". A signature... "folds to page size and is bound with other signatures to form a book." Then the signatures are stacked and bound by sewing them together.

I'm planning on doing a full painting or drawing for each double wide then when it's all sown together I'll go back and do individual drawings, paintings or zentangles on the back of the full pages (that are now half pages). That means I have 8 full paintings to figure out (with clues etc.). Then there'll be 8 half pages, each preceding a full page, with the clues for that full layout. Finally, there will be 8 more half pages for just doodling and extra stuff. I'm also planning on adding cut outs and windows to some of the pages so the viewer can see through to the next painting. Here's my first drawing and an example of one of the pages that will have a window.

The actual window will be cut so it opens just like real shutters.

I haven't come up with any clues for this one yet, I'd love suggestions. This next one I'm going to use the clue... "He loves me, he loves me not." and I'll probably draw falling petals with those words written on them. (both drawings will be painted, btw.)

Anyway, I'm so glad I've started this project and I'm excited about it traveling around the US with hundreds of other artists' work. It's such a cool project.

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I'm a watercolor & mixed media artist who blogs about her adventure in paint. I also love to read so there's always a book or paintbrush in my hand. Hopefully my work speaks to you, makes you feel something. That would make me very happy indeed. Visit my Flickr account to see all my artwork. http://www.JenniferMcLean.com